Support “Shored Up”, a new documentary about beach renourishment

Our friends from the fantastic ocean acidification documentary A Sea Change are working on an important new project. It’s called “Shored Up“, and it’s all about sea level rise and the strategies that coastal communities are using to try and keep their beaches.

One issue in particular, beach renourishment, has major environmental implications that aren’t often considered. Sand provides critical habitat for organisms other than tourists, and not all sand is the same: it differs in grain size, chemical composition, and other variables. Organisms that are adapted to one type of sand, such as beach-dwelling crabs and snails, often struggle to survive in another that’s dumped in huge quantities in their habitat. Additionally, the ecosystem where the sand comes from is often greatly disturbed by the huge sand-collecting dredges.

The movie doesn’t just focus on renourishment, however:

“How far will we go to hold back the ocean – and is this even possible? Can we afford to pile enough sand on our shores to protect our coastal communities? And in the process of protecting them, will we destroy the natural, wild environment that first drew us to the sea? On Long Beach Island, New Jersey and the Outer Banks of North Carolina, surfers, politicians, scientists and residents are racing to answer these tough questions.”

I hope you’ll agree that Shored Up looks like it’s going to be a well-done documentary about an important topic, because the movie needs your help! As the trailer indicates, they are attempting to use crowd-funding to finish post production. To donate, please visit their page on Kickstarter. They hope to raise $15,000. So far, they’ve raised about $12,000 and there are only a few days left in their campaign!

If you have any questions about the movie, please leave them as comments below and I’ll be sure that the filmmakers see it.

This is Ben, director of Shored Up. Thanks for your comment, I agree with you that the risk of building in dynamic environments shouldn’t be subsidized by the government. There is a cycle right now where poorly sited private development triggers publicly funded rescues like beach replenishment, which then encourage more development. There are many reasons to be concerned about coastal development, especially in light of rising sea levels, and we need to break this cycle as soon as possible.

If you haven’t already, please check out our trailer and campaign and help spread the word.